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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Susie Beever

Witnesses scream 'it's eating his remains' as shark mauls man to death on Egypt beach

A terrified bystander was heard shouting "it's eating his remains" as a shark attacked a man off the Egypt coast, witnesses say.

The victim, who has been named as Vladimir Popov, a Russian national who lives in the country, who had been swimming in the Red Sea at the Hurghada resort when he was killed by the ocean predator.

The beast, understood to have been a large tiger shark, was later caught by fishermen and dragged ashore where it was clubbed to death.

Horrified witnesses saw the surrounding water turn crimson as 23-year-old Mr Popov was mauled in an attack caught on camera, with one person nearby heard screaming the shark was continuing to eat him after he became unresponsive.

The person on the shore could be heard in the video, which was posted on social media, saying: "It is eating his remains now."

The huge shark was dragged ashore and beaten to death (Social media/east2west news)
Horrified witnesses watched as Mr Popov was mauled by the shark (Rossiya24 / East2west News)

"It’s a terrible thing, the remains of this guy are over there. I’m shaking. Right in front of my eyes, the shark ate that guy. I think I need a drink. I feel really bad", a woman told the Telegram channel Baza.

Vladimir's father, Yury Popov, described the shark as a "meat grinder" as he told local press of his horror at witnessing his son's death.

"We went to the beach to relax", Mr Popov told the 112 media outlet.

"My son was attacked by a shark, it all happened in seconds. What kind of help can you give?

"This meat grinder happened in 20 seconds, he was just dragged under the water."

Vladimir pictured with his girlfriend, Anastasia (social media / East2west News)

Horrific footage shows Mr Popov struggle with the shark and pulled beneath the surface, before re-appearing as he desperately fought for his life, screaming "Papa".

In the video, the shark's fin and tail can also be seen.

One witness told Russian station REN-TV: "It happened in a second. Rescuers reacted very quickly.

"For some reason, I immediately felt that it was a shark. I immediately jumped up and started shouting: ‘Sharks, sharks! Save yourself!’ Nobody understood yet.'"

A Russian woman in deep shock is comforted after escaping from the sea close to the tragedy (Belarus1 / East2west News)
(social media / East2west News)

Fatal shark attacks are extremely rare, with about 5-10 people killed worldwide per year.

Unprovoked attacks in general are uncommon - around 80 are reported annually.

Last July, two women, an Austrian and a Romanian, were killed in a shark attack near Hurghada.

The remains of the shark which killed Mr Popov have been sent to a laboratory "for examination and all required information to determine the possible causes of the attack", Egyptian authorities said.

His father, Yury, added that his son would be cremated with his ashes returned to the family's native Russia.

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